Water-elevator.



J. L. WRAY.

WATER ELEVATB.

.urLIonIox 2mm In s, ma.

Patenied Apr. 19,1910

' @Vita cm:

UNUSED sfrarnsgagnnr OFFICE. i

JAMES L. W'RAY. 0F KEWANEE, IILINOIS.

WATER-ELEVATOR.

To all whom. 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES L. 'nar, a

citizen of the United States. residingr at Kewanee` in the county ofHenriv and .State of Illinois, hare invented a new and useful'ater-lllevator. of which the. followinior is a specification.

This inven'ion relates to that class of water elevating;` apparatuscharacterized hy a .pair of submerged, or partly sulnuerged tanks. intowhich the water Hows. and from which itis aiternately discharged bycouipressed air, the air acting as a. piston to drive the water to itsdestination, and theI entry of the air into the tanks being groverned bya filmt-controlled Valve mechanism.

The object of the present invention is to siiuplifvtlze apparatus, andto render the sante. more etieient in operation, and also to )rovide animproved torni of valve inet-han tsm by which a waste of air iseffeetually prevented.

lith the foregoing objet-ts in View, the. invention consists in a novelconstruction and arrangement ot' parts to he hereinafter described andclaimed. reference being had to the drawing r hereto annexed forming apart cf-this specification. in whirli- Figure 1 is a vertical .sectionalview of the apparatus. Figs. L). and 3 are sectional details of thevalve hereinafter described, showing the same in bdittereut positions.

In the drawings. 5 and 5 indicate a paii oftanks in whieh'the pressureot' the air ir; brought to hear on tho water, the air acting as a pistonto drive the water. The tanks are, sulinierged, or partljvv submerged,in the water to be elevated, and the latter enters the tanks throughinlets in the bottoni thereof, said inlets bring controlled h v inwardlyopening check valves t3 and t3,` F rom each tank leads a discharge. pipe7 which carries the water to its destination. The discharge pipesconnnnuicate with the tanks close to the hottom thereof, and are protided caeh with a check valve 5.

At tl is indicated an air cylinder which is lmfated outside the tanks.and is in conunnnication therewith. a pipe it) leading from the cylinderto the tank 5 and a pipe l0* to the tank 5*. ln the c viiuder t) works apair of pistons 1l and it which are connected hy a stem 12 so as to morein unison. Between these pistons the cylinder is provided with anexhaust. port Il. Coni-pressed air is snpplied to the cylinder from asuitable source Patented Apr. 19, 1910.

1901). Serial No. 493,618.

by a pipe 14 entering one end of the cylinder, and a pipe. la enteringthe opposite end thereof. These pipesare supported by standards- 15rising.:` from the tanks, and by vhch a support for the cylinder 9 isalso c ia The pipes 14 and 14 lead to a multiplevalve easing 16 to hieltis also connected a i pipe 17 leading to the source of supply. l Thispipe 1i' enters the valve easing' at a point midway between the pointsof entry of side ot the valve casing, equidstant from the ponits ofenti) of said pipes 1-t and 14.-,

The casing,r 1G contains a rotar); ra re L9 having on one side a passage2t) and an intermediate passage. 21, and on the other side a passage.Q0"- and an intermediate passage 211. The purpose of this arrangement ofJassages will he understood from the following description of 'theoperatien of the apparatus.

Pig. 1 of the drawings shows the position of the various parts` when theair is from the tank 5R. The passage '20 of the iale 1E) establisheseonnnunuaition between therefore enters that en( of the cylinder 9 l towhich said pipe 14 is conneeted,.and tlows through the pipe l0 into thetank 5. pressure of the' air on the contents of the tank forces thesaine. out of the tank through the pipe 7, the cheek valve (l closing.The

the pipe 10, into the space hetween the pisl tons 11 and 1l, and out,(if-the port 13 to the atmosphere. The end et the cylinder 9 which is,entered by the pipe 1t' is also open to the atmosphere through the pipe14 and l passages QCP- antl 2P. By thus opening the l 'space hetwecn thepiston I l and the adjal cent end of the cylinder t) to.theatniostphere, the pressure in said space is enahted to escape, and istherefore not4 retained in the cylinder to oppose the movement oi' thepiston ll as it travels in this direction at tho beginning of theherein-deserihed operation, in order to r-stahlish communication hetwecn the cylint'ler Sl and the tank 'lhe valve 19 operated by a lever 22to eac-h end of which is connected by means of a chain or other snitahletiexihle eonneetion 23 a rod 24. Une of these rods extends into the tank5, and the other rod into the tank 5*. On

passing into the tank 5, and exhausting the pipe 1T and the pi e llt,and `the air' the pipes 14 and 14% and on the opposite.

are outlet ports 15:- and 1S to the atmosphere.

'ne l tank 5 is eni'itt', the air exhale-tiner through the rod withinthe tank 5 is mounted a float .25, and on the rod within the tank 5a ispulls that end of the lever Qi. to which its rod Qt is connecteddownwardly, whereupon the p'osition of the valve 19 is reversed, so thatthe position of the pistons 1l and 11a is reversed. With the said valvein reversed position, air enters the tank 5 and exhausts fronr the tank5, whereupon the water is forced out et' the tank 5a, and it enters thetank 5.

The mechanism herein described is devoid of complicated parts to get outof order, and it therefore reliable in operation. The valve 1S) isdesigned so as to cut ott' the air supply before the tark to which theair is llowin r is entirel)v emptied, whereby .t great saving ofair isvliet-ted.

'l`he air llowingr to the-tank 5 is cut ottl as soon as the passage 20clears the inlet port of the alve casing t6, and thereafter, and untilthe position ot' the valve is entirely reversed, the air in said tankoperates expansifely lo expel the water therefrom. 'This will be evidentfrom an inspection of Fig. 2 `which shows the intermediate position ofthe valve. During this position of the valve, thc exhaust from the tankis not cui oil', but takes place'through the pipe 10, cylinder l2, andport 13.

What is claimed is:

1. In a water elevator, a pair of tanks having inlets and outlets, atluid pressure and cmnniunicating with the tanks, a valve workinglr inthe c vlindtr` and alternately establishing eonnnunication between thecylinder and the tanks, a valve eonlrollin;r the flow to the cylinderand having its pas sages arrangwlto eut oll the lluid piessure supply tothe cylinder before the tank which is in eonnnnnicat'ion therewith isemptied. the course of the lluid pressure in itsl travel to the tanksbeing through the lasty n n-utioued valve and the cylinder, andlloat-controlled means for operatingr the last inen- -t ioned valve.

2. ln a water elevator. a pair of tanks having inlets and outlets. afluid pressure cylinder. said cylinder havin;r ports conilnnniealingwith the tanks, and an exhaust port between said ports, a pair ofconnected y pipes entering opposite ends of the cylinder, y

a multpleway valve to which said pipes are connected, said valve openingone end of the cylinder to the fluid pressure supply, and the other endto the atmosphere, the course of the fluid pressure in its travel to thetanks being through the last mentioned valve and theV cylinder, andfloat-controlled means for operating the valve.

3. In e water elevator, a pair of-` tanks having,lr inlets and outlets,a fluid pressure cylinder, said cylinderhaving ports communicating withthe tanks, and an exhaust portv between said ports, a pair of connectedl pistons working in the cylinder, and alternately opening one of thetanks to the space in the cylinder in front of one of the pistons,andthe other tank to the space between the pistons. the exhaust portbeing located between said pistons, fluid pressure Supply pipes enteringopposite ends of the cylinder, a multiple-m15' valve to which said pipesare connected, said valve alternately openin,g1r one end ot the cylinderto the fluid pressure supply and the other end to the atmosphere, ardhaving its ports arranged to cnt off the fluid pressure supply to thecylinder before the tank which is in eonnnnuication therewith empties,the course of the Huid pressure in its travel to the. tanks beingthrough the lastv mentioned valve and the cylinder, and float-controlledmeans for operating the valve.

4. ln a water elevator, a pair of tanks havin;r inlets and outlets, afluid pressure cylinder. sf.. d cylinder having ports communicating withthe tank, and an exhaust port between said ports, a pair of connected ct'hnder connected to a source of supply,

pistons nic-kiner in the. cylinder, and alternate-ly opening one of 'thetanks to the space in the cylinder in front of one of the pistons, andthe other tank to the space between the pistons, the. exhaustpnrtbeing,r located between said pistons, tluid pressure supply pipesentering opposite ends of the cylinder, a three-way valve to which saidpiper are Ieonnected, said valve alternately opening one end of thecylinder to the fluid pressure supply, and said valve having outlets tothe atmosphere, and intermediate ports alternatelv communicatingtherewith to open the ends of the cylinder to the atmosphere, the courseof the tluid pressure in its trav il to the tanks beiner through thelast mentioned valve anti the cylinder, andlloat controlled means foroperating the valve.

ln testimony that I claim the foregoinar as my own, l have heretoallixed my signature inthe presen-e of two witnesses.

JAMES L. WRAY.- Wit nesses:

J. A. CLARK, Il. N. IEFLIN.

